Brighton exposed the dangerous flaw in Mikel Arteta’s new Arsenal tactics
It’s not often that you can say that Arsenal were outplayed and outfought in a game, but that’s exactly what happened against Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Premier League champions had been brilliant in their first seven games of the season in all competitions. They were on the front foot in those games, won the individual battles, and comfortably played through those sides.
This is a clear change in Mikel Arteta’s tactics from last season. It is evident that Arsenal are trying to be more expansive – even their first touch right after kickoff has been in the opposition half in every game.
However, against a team like Brighton, that style was a huge mistake, and Arsenal got exposed at the Amex.
Mikel Arteta’s tactics cost Arsenal against Brighton
Arsenal are hailed as one of the best clubs in the world because they can play and beat teams in any style they want.
Over the last few years, the Gunners have deployed low blocks as well as mid blocks, while there have also been games where they have played fluid, expansive football. Mikel Arteta has even resorted to route-one football in certain moments.
Against Brighton, Arsenal tried to play expansively through the Seagulls’ press. They invited the pressure and hoped to pass their way out into the open space in the middle and final third.
That, as we all saw, was not the right decision.
Instead of constantly trying to play out from the back, Arsenal should’ve gone long to Kai Havertz, who is more than capable of winning the first ball and linking up with his teammates.
Yes, playing through the press is beautiful on the eye, but this game required pragmatism over purity, and Arteta, wrongly, chose the latter.
Brighton are arguably the best pressing team in the Premier League, so inviting them to do what they excel at was a very naive decision.
By refusing to go long and be direct, Arsenal fell into Fabian Hurzeler’s traps. Almost every time they tried to build up, they lost the ball and were attacked.
This will surely serve as a lesson to Arteta. Yes, everyone wants to see beautiful football, but there are games where they need to make it a scrappy, old-school game. This was one such fixture.
Mikel Arteta made some selection mistakes too
It’s easy to say this in hindsight, but Arteta will have come away from the Amex thinking he got it wrong – not just with his tactics but team selection as well.
Arsenal fans slammed Bruno Guimaraes on his first Premier League start for the club. The Brazilian was really poor, and even though he possesses the quality to excel in such games, he struggled.
Myles Lewis-Skelly would’ve probably been the better option because of his ability to absorb pressure, win fouls, and dribble past players.
Even in attack, Arsenal needed fast attackers to hurt Brighton in the transition when they broke through the press. Unfortunately, neither Bukayo Saka nor Christos Tzolis are rapid enough.
This was probably a game for Noni Madueke on one side – just like it was Gabriel Martinelli in the same fixture a few years ago.
The three-week international break is upon us now, and we’re sure Arteta will go through everything in this period. That should give him more clarity on what to do in such games going forward.